Swimwear is generally made with 2 components: the outer covering or the shell, which is used for styling, and the inside liner, which is used for support to help the woman's body. Furthermore, there is known within the art body suits that provide shaping support which may be worn as an undergarment.
One of the known structures of swimwear is called the shelfbra. This design is quite flimsy and gives little support, or control of body shape for the women's body. Usually it is worn by women with smaller busts and is also used by competitive swimmers requiring optimal hydrodynamic characteristics to their swimwear. In an alternate version, moulded cups for the breasts are added with different fabrics to hold them in place and a liner made of the same fabric is added in order to bring in the stomach. Usually the complete structure is connected to side seams of the outside shell. There is also know another structure of support liner made with an under wire for support of the breast which can be used in conjunction with the liner for the stomach (U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,742; RE 33,406) which are incorporated herein by reference. Such a structure gives better support for women having larger breasts, but unfortunately during the prolong use those under wires have a tendency to puncture the fabric in which they are enclosed. Furthermore, even though there is a degree of support provided with this structure, there is no control of body shape provided.
There is also known a structure of liner which places control fabric in the back which does all the work that is necessary, however such liner make the complete swimwear extremely bulky and uncomfortable.
There is known a swimming suit called the Miracle-suit, which is constructed from one layer of fabric without using any support liner. However, such fabric is very expensive and do not compliment women with oversized breasts since it has a tendency of compressing all parts of the body without any sculptural shaping of all parts of the body.
There is also known a structure called aquabra which provides a foam core frame, that shapes and supports the breast from underneath giving the same shape as a breast. The aquabra comes in different sizes to suit different styles of breasts. For a more feminine look where a cup is not desired, there is structure called the secret aquabra, which consists of a frame made with 2 layers of material sewn together to provide support to the breasts. However, the aquabra and secret aquabra are expensive and add to the cost of the swimsuit, therefore limiting the market accessibility.
Most of known structures of bathing suits made of combination of 15-20% spandex and 75-80% nylon. Typically, 90% of bathing suit shell is made with 15% spandex and 85% nylon. In some cases the % of spandex may be up 32%.
Currently, to the best of Applicants knowledge, there are no seamless swim suits provide for within the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,060 which is incorporated herein by reference discloses a seamless body suit that is prepared from a tubular knit blank. This body suit comprises modified length stitches in order to provide support for, and yet accommodate, the breast and stomach area while provide some degree of compressive support to the mid torso. However, this structure is not designed to provide controlling support to sculpturally shape desired regions of the torso to any substantial degree. Furthermore, there is no disclosure of different stitch types that could be beneficially used in order to sculpt a torso, nor is there any disclosure of different yams that could be used in order to optimize the shape control function of the body suit.
Presently, existing products give shape, but provide minimal support under the breasts unless a frame or under wire is used. The disadvantages of under wire are numerous: it hurts the breasts, adds unnecessary weight, and eventually comes out. These additional structural elements also increase manufacturing costs. Furthermore, other regions of the torso are only minimally sculpted, compressed or modified in some manner to provide an enhanced appearance.
The present invention is directed to swim suit or body suit that provides a comfortable sculpturing support structure that provides a desired control of breasts, mid torso and buttocks without unnecessarily deforming these parts of the body. With the structure of the present invention there is no need for frames, or wire supports, yet a similar degree of support and sculptural control is achieved as with these prior art structures. In several embodiments of the present invention, the use of stitch patterns and yarns selections that provide for a range of support and control functions within a single garment, while still allowing comfort and flexibility of the garment to the user.
The support structure of the present invention may be used as a support liner for a bathing suit in order to provide an aesthetic outside shape, or as a body suit providing shaping support and control, or as a body suit worn as an undergarment. Furthermore, the body-control garment provided for by this invention is cost effective to manufacture and durable in nature.
The body-control garment as described herein may be worn underneath other clothing, not necessarily swimwear, but is not limited to be exclusively worn underneath other clothing. It is lightweight and gives extreme support and control in different areas of the body.